Corrugated-sheet-metal car end



W. P. MURPHYJ CORRUGATED SHEET METAL CAR END.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-15,1920.

Patented July 18, 1922 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER P. MURPHY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CORRUGATED-SHEET-METAL CAR END.

I Specification of Letters Patent. K 'Pa tented July 18, 1922.

Division of application Serial No. 92,423, filed March 6, 1916 (now Patent No. 1,309,484, dated July 8, 1919), through the copendency of its division Serial No. 304,429, filed June 10, 1919, renewed May 28, 1921, Serial No. 473,318. This application filed November 15, 1920. Serial No. 424,124.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER P. MURPHY, a citlzen of the United States, residing at New York cit in the county of New York' ture is subjected to the greatest "stress while in service.

The end of a railway car is subjected to very severe shocks'and stresses, due, among other things, to the tendency of the cargo to shift when the train stops and starts. If the end of the car consists of a single panel (made up of one or more sheets), which extends across the end of the car from one corner post to the other and depends upon corrugations for giving it the necessary rigidity, instead of the usual end posts and braces, it is obvious that the thrusts and pressures are likely to be most destructive when applied to the center portion of the panel, since deflection will be greater at the pointsremote from the places of attachment to the car frame. If the cargo consists of heavy articles, such as would ordinarily beloaded in the bottom of the car, the inertia thrusts of the cargo will be directed against the lower portion of the end structure. It is, therefore, desirable that entl structures of this type be reinforced at the places of greatest stress, so that the car end structure will withstand, without undue deflection, the various stresses and strains to which end structures of this character are subjected.

My present invention contemplates forming a sheet metal car end structure with vertical stiffening and reinforcing corrugations which increase in depth and width from their extremities toward a line intermediate the horizontal center line of the end and the floor, so that the greatest cross-sectional area of the corrugations will be at the place where theend is likely to receive the most severe thrusts. The corrugations adj acent the vertical center line of the end are also preferably deeper than the corrugations at the sides of the panel, so as to provide the greatest reinforcement of the end structure adjacent its vertical center. The end structure may be reinforced in the above manner without diminishing the normal capacity of the car by pressing the corrugations so that they project outwardly from the plane of the outer face of the corner posts. The center corrugations may be made considerably deeper than the side corrugations without violating the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission relating to end ladder clearance. This provision is to the effect that no part of a car above the end sills and within inches from the side of the car shall extend to within 12 inches of the vertical plane parallel to the end of the car and passing through the inside face of the coupler member. By forming the corrugations so that their greatest cross-sectional area is at the lower portion of the end and by; making the center corrugations deeper than the corrugations at the sides, the end structure is given added strength at the place where strength is required by the utilization of the space permitted by the Interstate Commerce Commission regulations which does not involve shortening the inside longitudinal dimensions of the car.

The invention consists in the constructions, arrangements and devices, to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects, and such other objects as will appear from the following description of. a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation'of a railway box car showing a sheet metal end structure made in accordance with my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on along vertical lines by rivets 16. The lower edges of the sheets are preferably formed with inturned flanges 17 which are secured to the end sill 12 by bolts 18, the flanges preferably intervening between the flooring 13 and the end sill 12 so as to make a gramproof construction. lhe outer vertical edges of the side sheets 15, 15 are formed with angular flanges 19 which preferably overlap the side sheathing 20 of the car and are secured to the corner posts 10, 10 by bolts 21. The upper edges of the sheets may be bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the end plate 11 of the car.

The end structure is reinforced by providing the center sheet 14 with a plurality of relati ely deep outwardly projecting corrugations 22 and each of the side sheets with a plurality of shallower corrugations 23. All of the corrugations extend substantially from the floor to the roof of the car and terminate within the upper and lower edges of the sheet, so as to rigidify the end structure as a whole and provide load-carrying members which support a portion of the roof load.

The destructive thrusts and pressures against'a car end wall result more frequently from the shifting of the cargo, and as these thrusts are likely to be against the lower third of the end structure, since the heav articles of a cargo are naturally loaded in the bottom of the car, 1 preferably form the corrugations 22, 23, so that they will be widest and deepest at points not far remote from the floor; that is, along a line whichmay be consideredas the line of greatest stress so far as cargo thrusts are concerned. The corrugations, at their widest and deepest points, preferably merge one into another so as to form a sinuous configuration. whereby the thrusts against one portion of the end panel will be distributed among the adjacent corrugations and transmitted to the framing of the car. Inasmuch as the corrugations, in addition to resisting the local thrusts of the cargo, reinforce the end structure as a whole so as to minimize the deflection of the end panel when it is subjected. to

various strains and pressures while in service, it is desirable that thecorrugations adjacent the vertical center of the end be heavier than those at the sides of the car.

Assuming that an end ladder. of the usual constructiomis secured to certain of the corrugations 23, and projects as far out as the law allows with corugations 23 formed shallower than the corrugations 22, it will be obvious that were the corrugations all of the same depth. it would be necessary to sacrifice either the additional strength and rigidity at the center of the car by making all of the corrugations relatively shallow, or if the corrugations were all deep, to set the end further back with respect to the car, which would be at the sacrifice of its inside longitudinal dimensions. The difiiculty is resolved by making the center corrugations, along the line of greatest stress, as deep as it is feasible to make them, and making the side corrugations shallower.

While I have described the principles of my invention in connection with a specific embodiment, it will be obvious that modifications might be made in structure without departing from the'principles embodied in the invention. 1 therefore do not wish to be limited to the specific structure shown and described, except as so limited by the scope of the appended claims.

The subject-matter of this application was originally disclosed in and subsequently divided from an application Serial No. 82,423. filed by me March 6, 1916 (now patented as Patent No. 1,309,484, dated July 8, 1919), the present application being a division of my copending application Serial No. 304,429, filed June 10, 1919.

I claim:

1. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality of vertical corrugations, the greatest cross-sectional area 'of which is along a line nearer the floor than the upper edge of the structure, and which are tapered at their extremities, the

y corrugation or corrugations adjacent the vertical center line of the structure being deeper than those at the sides of the structure.

2. A sheet metal'end structure for a railway car comprising a panel formed with a plurality of substantially vertical corrugations which are of maximum cross sectional area at points intermediate their ends and from those points taper toward their ends, the corrugations near the vertical center line of the structure being of greater cross sectional areas throughout their length than the corrugations adjacent the sides of the structure.

3. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car comprising a panel formed with a plurality ofvertically disposed corrugations which are deepest adjacent the vertical center line of the panel at a point intermediate the fioor of the car and the horizontal center line of the end and diminish in depth toward the vertical and horizontal edges of said panel.

4. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car comprising a center sheet formed with relatively deep corrugations and side sheets formed with shallower corrugations, said corrugations being widest and deepest on a line intermediate the horizontal center line of the panel and the floor of the car.

5. A sheet metal end structure for a railwav car comprising a center sheet formed with relatively deep corrugations and side sheets formed with shallower corrugations, said corrugations being widest and deepest on a line intermediate the horizontal center line of the panel and the floor of the car and merging one into another at this point. a

6. A sheet metal endstructure fora railway car comprising a center sheet formed with vertically disposed, relatively deep, outpressed corrguations, and side sheets formed with shallower corrgu'ations; said with attaching flanges adapted to be se-f cured to the car framing; said corrugations being widest and deepest on a line intermediate the horizontal center lineof the panel and the floor of the car.

8. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car comprising three vertically disposed sheets, overlapped and secured together along vertical lines, and formed with flanges along the vertical and horizontal edges of said panel adapted to be secured to the car framing; the sheet adjacent the vertical center line of said panel being provided with relatively deep vertical corrugations and the sheets at the sides thereof being formed with shallower corrugations; all of said corrugations being widest and deepest on a line intermediate the horizontal center line of the panel and the floor of the car.

. 9. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality of groups of substantially parallel corrugations each of which corrugations is of maximum depth at a point intermediate its ends and tapers therefrom toward its ends, the corrugations of each group being of substantially uniform configuration but those of one group being deeper than those of another group.

10. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality of groups of substantially parallel corrugations each of which corrugations is of maximum cross sectional area at a point intermediate its ends and diminishes in cross sectional area therefrom toward its ends, the corrugations of each group being of substantially uni- .form configuration but the corrugations of one group being of greater cross sectional area throughout their length than those of another group.

11. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality ofgroups .of substantially vertical corrugations each of which is of maximum depth at a point intermediate its ends and tapers therefrom toward its ends, the corrugations of each roup being ofsubstantially uniform conguration but the corrugations of one group being deeper than the rest of said corrugations.

12. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality of groups of substantially vertical corrugations each of which is of maximum depth at a point intermediate its ends and tapers therefrom toward its ends, the corrugations of each group being of substantially uniform configuration but the corrugations of one group being deeper than the rest of said corrugations, said deeper corrugations being ad.- jacent the vertical center line of the end.

13. A sheet metal endstructure for a-railway car formed with a plurality of groups of substantially vertical corrugations each ofwhich is of maximum depth at a point intermediate its ends and tapers therefrom toward its ends, the corrugations of each group being of substantially uniform configuration but the corrugations of'the group adjacent the vertical center line of the structure being of greater cross sectional area throughout their length than the corruga-" tions of the groups on opposite sides of said central group. J

14. A sheetmetal end structure for a railway car formed with a plurality of groups of substantially vertical corrugations each of which is of maximum depth at a .point nearer the floor than the upper edge of said structure and tapers therefrom toward its extremities, the corrugations of each group being of substantially uniform configuration but the corrugations of the group adjacent the vertical center line of the structure. being deeper throughout their length than the corrugations of the groups on 0pposite sides of said central group.

15. A sheet metal end structure for a railway car comprising three sheet metal sections joined together on vertical lines and formed with substantially vertical corrugations which are of maximum depth along a line nearer the floor of the car than the upper edge of said structure and tapered toward their extremities; the corrugations in each of said sections being of uniform configuration but the corrugations of the central section being deeper throughout their length than the corrugations of the side sections.

WAL'lER P. MURPHY. 

